Secret 11

The “tape” (the quotes) will trick you

Gann once said that it's impossible for the man who day by day stands over “the ticker” to identify a big move before it starts. The tape will fool you every day while accumulation is taking place (and it takes time to accumulate or distribute a large position). Gann actually felt that the tape (today we call it the quote machine) is there to fool traders. “The tape moves in mysterious ways, the multitude to deceive” is the way he put it. Prices can look the weakest or strongest at the strongest or weakest times. Watching quotes all day causes you to change your mind constantly. Trade too often, and this increases your percentage of being wrong. If you get in wrong, the quote machine tends to keep you in wrong longer than you should be, because every tick your way renews your hopes. If you get in right and you watch the screen too closely, there will come a minor move against you that will shake you out. This move, in the long run, means nothing, and as a result, you will lose a good position.